Why does white reflect light

At the atomic scale, metals are a crystal network of atoms whose outermost electrons dissociate and wander with high mobility through the network. When that occurs, the light has been effectively reflected from the surface of the metal.

White surfaces can reflect a considerable amount of light, but without the mobile electrons to oppose the electric field of light, white surfaces allow light to penetrate up to several wavelengths. This allows them to experience multiple reflections from crystal grains and other irregularities within the structure of the surface.

Some multiple-reflected light can reemerge from the material surface, but without the same orientation, as that which reflects off a mirror. White paint or a piece of paper are classic examples of light scattering, he notes, as are clouds, the foam in your glass of beer, and snow. It is striking to consider, Livingston adds, how a still pool of water may serve as a poor mirror. Yet, when the same water crystallizes into irregularly packed snow flakes, multiple and diffuse light reflection results in a white surface.

Related Questions How does glass change over time? White light contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, so when the color white is being reflected, that means all wavelengths are being reflected and none of them absorbed, making white the most reflective color. As a form of energy called electromagnetic radiation, light travels in waves with some of its colors having longer wavelengths than others.

The visible light humans see as the color white consists of a rainbow of colors in the electromagnetic spectrum that range from blue to red, with yellow, orange, green and multiple variations sandwiched between them, as in a rainbow after a storm. Blue and violet have shorter wavelengths and higher energy, and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, red wavelengths are longer, but have lower energy.

If the color of a surface is anything other than white, it means that it absorbs light of some wavelengths. For example, a surface that appears red absorbs yellow, green, blue and violet light, while reflecting red light. A surface that appears green absorbs all colors except green.

White light is a combination of all colors -- as is apparent when you shine a white light through a prism -- so anything that appears white reflects all wavelengths of light. Black is the least reflective color, it's the color of a surface that absorbs all light. If a surface isn't white, then the closer its color is to white, the more light it reflects.

Pastel and off-white colors reflect more light than deep tones. Adding white to a color is called tinting the color, and it increases the color's reflectivity.

The contrasting procedure is to add black to decrease the reflectivity. This is called shading. Notify me of new posts via email. Skip to content. Home Contact. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like this: Like Loading Published by pcbpedia. Published October 5, Leave a Reply Cancel reply Enter your comment here Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:.

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